Automobile torpedo



Feb.24. 1925.

W. DIETER AUTOMOBILE VTORPEDO 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 5, 923

By Attorneys, mom,

Feb. 24. 1925.

w, DIETER AUTOMOBILE TORPEDO Filed Mayf, .923 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR By Attorneyg 'hmm I 971W 2s fnmmlya uw urs m mu m l m, mw

Feb. 24. 1925.

. l w. DIETER AUTOMOBILE TORPEDO Filed .Jay 5. 1925 4 sheewsheet s Emmmwuw" INVENTOR #Mam wf/H -By Attorneys,

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w. DIETER AUTOMOBILE TORPEDOVVK Filed May 5, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 R4 mm m.

Patented Feb. Z4, i925.

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WILLAM DIETER, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

AUTOIJOBILE TORPEDO.

Application tiled May 5,

To @ZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, WILLIAM DIETER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing in Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Automobile Torpedoes, of which the following is a` specification.

rihis invention relates to means for propelling' an automobile torpedo.

Such torpedoes have two propellers revolving in opposite directions, and most commonly turning on the same axis which is coincident with the longitudinal anis of the torpedo. it is necessary to neutralize the rolling tendency upon the torpedo of the respective propellers, and for this purpose their shafts are geared together to revolve at equal or nearly equal and exactly proportioned speeds, and the propeller blades are proportioned to give exactly equal and opposite rolling impulses to the torpedo. Then turning as usual on coincident axes, one propeller is placed aft of the other, and consequently operates in the water already disturbed by the forward propeller, and hence acts at a certain disadvantage, which has to be compensated for by the relative proportioning of the blades of the respective propellers, or by driving them at slightly different speeds,

or by both expedients. In practice it is possible by careful proportioning to so nearly equalize the rolling effect of the propellers as to cause the torpedo to travel in a close approximation to an absolute level, or, in nautical pa-rlance, on an even keel. rIhis, however, involves considerable ditliculty.

rlhe object of the present invention is to make the torpedo self-righting or leveling, so that it will automatically compensate' for any deviation from the lateral level due to either propeller predominating` in rolling effect over the other. To this end the propellers, instead of havino' their shafts geared together and being driven by the same engine or mot-or at invariable relative speeds as heretofore, are made capable of ruiming at different and varying' velocities, and means is provided for automatically changing their relative speeds, such means being responsive to any deviation or listing by the torpedo from its normal level, and acting to vary the relative speeds of the propellers in such manner as to overcome such 1923. Serial N0. 638,913.

listing tendency and restore' the torpedo to an even keel. While it is possible to drive both propellers from the same engine or motor, as heretofore, and to introduce into the intervening gearing means for varying the relative speedsv of the propellers, yet the simplest and most effective embodiment of the invention is to provide each propeller with its own engine or motor, thus avoiding any geared relation between the respective propellers, and to introduce governing means for varying the relative speeds imparted by the respective engines to the propellers. 7

The preferred embodiment ofthe invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, with respect both to reciprocating engines and to turbines as the drivingl means for the propellers. Figures 1 to 7 illustrate reciprocating engines, and Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate turbines.

Figure l is a fragmentary side view of the torpedo, the tail portion being in elevation, and the mid-section in section on a vertical longitudinal plane showing the internal parts in elevation.

Fig. 2 is al sectional side view on a larger scale showing the engine and gearing partly broke-n away vin vertical section, the plane of this section being indicated approximately by the line 2 2 in Fig. 3.'

Fig. 8 is a vertical transverse section on the same scale as'Fig. 2, showing the engine partly in elevation and partly in vertical mid-section on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the Darts shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the torpedo shell being in horizontal mid-section, and the valve chambers being in horizontal section on the line 4 4 in Fig. s. f

Figs. 5 and-6 show details of the governing means on a larger scale, Fig. 5 being a vertical transverse section on the line 5 5 in Fig. 2,- and 6 being a horizontal section on theline 6 6 in Figs. 2 and 5.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal mid-section in the plane of the line 7 7 in 3.

Figs. 8 and 9 are respectively a horizontal section and vertical transverse section of a turbine-driven torpedo, the'former being in section on the line 8 8 in the latter, and the latter being in section on the line 9 9 in the former, and part-ly broken away at the bottom to show the turbines;

The constructions shown in Figs. 1 to 7 will be first described.

The hull of the torpedo is shown at A,

its compressed air reservoir or flask beingV partly shown at B (the customary alcohol and water reservoirs and the usual superheater being omitted for greater clearness, so that the drawing shows a so-called cold torpedo, or one driven by compressed air alone). The fore and aft propellers are shown at C and C', these being mounted as usual on outer and inner propeller shafts DV andY D respectively, and being driven through suitable gearing from engines E and E which are shown as ordinary vertical three cylinder single-acting reciprocating engines. Each engine is distinct from the other, and each is geared to and drives solely its own propeller shaft, there being no geared relation between the respective propellers or their shafts or engines.

As the engines are identical in construction, a description of one will serve for both. Each engine has a crank shaft F or F, being, as shown, a three throw crank shaft. The three upright cylinders Gr G have within them pistons H H which may be of the usual bucket plunger type and connected to their respective cranks by the usual pitman rods I, I. As shown, the three cylinders are cast en bloc and mounted on a crank shaft casing J which may contain lubricating oil, the general design Abeing similar to that which is conventional vin hydrocarbon engines.

The crank shafts have bearings in the opposite ends of the casings J, one end of each being formed as a head y'. At the aft end the shaft passes out through the bearing, and lhas keyed upon-it apinion K or K', these pinions being in diiferent planes, as shown in Fig. 4;, and meshing respectively with gear wheels L and L which are fixed respectively on the propeller shafts D and D', the construction being f preferably that shown in Fig. 2. Thus there is no connection between the gears L and L', and consequently no geared relation between the respective propellers or their shafts or engines.

The specific engines shown are ofthe uniflow type with cam-actuated valves. Each cylinder has an inlet valve a and an exhaust valve b; the valve stem c of the inlet valve slides within the tubular valve stem d of the exhaust valve, and passes down through a guiding standard e into contact with the cam M. The exhaust valve stem d rests on a rocker which receives movement from a parallel stem g sliding in a guiding standard e and resting on another part of the cam M (the construction in this respect being the same as shown in my Patent No. 746,626, dated December 8, V1903). There is a cam M for each engine cylinder, and the three cams are keyed on a cam shaft N which is driven from the crank shaft F or Ff, and atthe samerspeed, through 'cation with the afterbody.

any suitable interposed gearing It, 7L, h', the latterbeing an elongated pinion to allow for longitudinal movement of the cam shaft whereby to bring different cam faces into action against the respective pins, and thereby to vary the speed or'otherwisel control the engine, according as the shaft N is set in one or another longitudinal position (the means for doing this not being shown, it having no necessary relation to the present invention). V

Eachcylinder has an exhaust port 7c, after the manner of uni-flow engines, which is opened by the piston at the end of its-stroke, the remaining exhaust occurring during the up-stroke of the piston through the valve b. r

through an opening in the usual bulkhead P of the torpedo, so as to deliver the exhaust from the engine into the afterbody chamber on the aft side of said bulkhead. The discharge from '79 is at the level indicated by the letter p in Fig. 2, where it is well above the gears K, K', and in free communi- The compressed air for driving the engines comes from the air reservoir B through the usual supply conduit Q, under control of the usual starting valve R and pressurereducing valve S (Fig. l), and is delivered from supply pipe Q into the valve chamber of the governor or controlling valve T. This governing means involves essentially a distributing valve for directing the compressed air or fluid to the two engines and dividing it between them, and an operating means responsive to variations in level of the torpedo, or, in Yother words, movable in a transverse plane in response to rolling or listing movements of the torpedo. It is essentially a. gravitating device, and while hydrostatic or other forms of gravitating means might be employed, the simplest device for the purpose is a pendulum hung so as to be free to swing 1n a transverse plane,

as clearly shown in Fig. 5wherc U is the pendulum suspended from a pivot g swinging within a casing 1" which may contain oil or other liquid. The pendulum rod has a ball or other means for impartingV move- Vment to a valve V which is shown as a balin the valve V. Opposite the ports t are outlet ports v leading to two outlet conduits W, l/V, which convey the fluid to the inlet valves of the respective engines. When Ythe i valve is in mid-position, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the fluid entering at Q into the valve shell is equally divided in its flow through the respective ports t, u, o, and flows in equal voiumes through the conduit-s IV, W, to the respective engines; this is the condition when the torpedo remains level or on an even keel. But if the torpedo rolls or lists, due to one propeller exerting a preponderating rolling tendency, the governor valve is inclined while the pendulum remains vertical, thereby moving the valve V endwise in its cylinder, and thus increasing the opening of the ports leading to one engine, while choking the ports communicating with the other. The arrangements of ports are such that as the torpedo heels in one direction (to starboard, for instance) it accelerates the engine on thatl side and retards the engine on the other, so that the propeller which caused the rolling is slightly slowed down, and the other propeller slightly speeded up sufficiently to overcome the original rolling tendency and set up a contrary rolling tendency which brings the torpedo back to its original normal level. It is desirable to fill or partly fill the easing r with oil, both to have a dashpot action for preventing sudden movements of the piston, and also to act as a lubricating means by the splashing up of oil; in the case of a steam-driven torpedo, more or less water will condense in the valve casing and flow into the casing 1, and accumulating at the bottom thereof will lift the oil and feed it slowly during the run of the torpedo to the valve, and thence over into the engine cylinders.

The construction of crank casing head j shown in Fig. 7 and also in Fig. 3, has at the top a iiattened portion 7" overhanging a Hat portion 7c formed on the end of the crank casing, in order to assist in carrying the weight of the crank shaft and resisting the downward thrust of the piston rods against the cranks. The end of the crank shaft is capped over by applying a cap Z to the crankshaft bearing.

It will be understood that the construction of reciprocating engine already described is only one example of motors suitable for use with the present invention. As an example of another suitable motor there is shown in Figs. S and 9 the application of turbines of the Curtis type (although other types might be used). Instead of one turbine driving both propellers, there are two 'turbines each driving one and entrained therewith independently of the other. The propeller shafts D and D, and the gears and pinions L, L and K, K, are the same as in the construction already described. In place of the crank shafts F, F', are turbine shafts F2, F3, which carry the turbine wheels E2, E3. The governor T, with its distribution valve and gravitating member or pendulum, are the same as already described,

the discharge conduits W, 1N leading to the nozzles X and X of the respective turbines. Thus, each turbine drives through the reducing gearing its own propeller, each propeller being thus driven independently of the other, and any rolling or listing is compensated for by the action of the governor valve in precisely the manner described with respect to the reciprocating engines. The exhaust from the turbines is carried oit through exhaust pipes p2, p3, and discharged into the afterbody or in any customary way The invention may be otherwise modified within the scope of the appended claims,

I claim as my invention:

l. In an automobile submarine torpedo having oppositely-revolving propeliers and f driving means therefor, means for varying the relative speed of the propellers to equalize their rolling tendency.

2. In an automobile submarine torpedo having oppositely-revolvingi propellers and driving means therefor, means operated by the listing of the torpedo for varying the relative speed of the propellers to compensate for such listino:

3. In an automobile submarine torpedo having oppositely-revolving propellers and driving means therefor, means responsive I to the listing of the torpedo, and means controlled thereby for varying the relative speed of the propellers to compensate for such listing.

4t. In an automobile submarine torpedo having oppositely-revolving propellers and driving means therefor, means for varying the relative speed of the propellers to equa-lize their rolling tendency, said means including a gravitating member movable in a. plane transverse to the torpedo.

5. In an automobile torpedo having oppositely-revolving propellers, the combination there-with of separate engines for driving the respective propellers, and means for governing the relative speed of the engines to equalize the rolling tendency of the propellers.

6. In an automobile submarine torpedo having oppositely-revolving propellers, the combination therewith of separate engines for driving the respective propellers, and means for governing the engines respectively, operated by the listing of the torpedo, whereby to vary the relative speed of the propellers to compensate for suchV listing.

7. In an automobile torpedo having oppositely-revolving propellers, the combination therewith of separate engines for driving the respective propellers, and means responsive to the listing of the torpedo for varying the relative speeds of the engines in direction to overcome such listing.

8. In an automobile torpedo having oppo- 'sitely-revolving propellers with independent :shafts capable of turning at different and varying speeds, the combination therewith. of separate engines for driving the respective propellers, and means for governing the relative speed of the engines to equalize .the rolling tendency of the propellers.

9. In an automobile torpedo having oppositely-revolving propellers7 the combination therewith of separate engines for driving the respective propellers, and means for governing the relative speed of the engines to equalize the rolling tendency of the pro pellers7 said means including a gravitating member movable in a plane transverseto the torpedo. Y

10. In an automobile torpedo having oppositely-revolving propellers, the combination therewith of separate engines for driving the respective propellers, and means for 'governingthe relative speed of t-he engines to equalize the rolling tendencj,7 of the propellers7 said means including a pendulum l2. The combination of claim 11, theY gravitating member being a pendulum,andf40 a casing enclosing such pendulum which may contain liquid.

In witness whereof7 I have hereunto signed my name. y

WILLIAM DIETER, 

